Gov. Brown must protect direct democracy from unions

While the politicians whom Californians elect to statewide office are overwhelmingly Democrats, the electorate isn’t nearly as liberal as our recent history suggests. This is reflected in the voters’ approval of state ballot measures that make it tougher to increase government fees and taxes, and the fact that most — but not all — tax hikes have been defeated over the past two decades.

So what do Democrats in the Capitol want to do? Make it more difficult for voters to put the state on the course of their choosing.

AB 857 would change the initiative process to give unions a huge advantage and to handicap groups with different agendas than unions. Now on the governor’s desk, the measure would mandate that 10 percent of signatures for ballot measures be gathered by volunteers rather than paid signature-gatherers. But union members would be classified as volunteers under the law. And mailed-in signatures wouldn’t be counted in the volunteer category. For a final flourish, the bill also adds a long list of logistic impediments to signature-gathering.

This is not “reform.” This is a naked power play passed on party-line votes — one that is intended to remove the last check left on union domination of state government. We hope Gov. Jerry Brown understands the high stakes here. If he signs this measure, cynicism about how Sacramento works should hit an all-time high.